


Dark Eyes and Soft Hair

by litesalted



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe, Don't worry, It Gets Better, M/M, No SQUIP, Private School AU, Slow Burn, and a little darker but it's fine, it'll be short, it's kinda gross and totally like a high school crush in it's early stages, this is so wack just go with it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-04 05:29:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13357503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litesalted/pseuds/litesalted
Summary: Jeremy Heere and Christine Canigula go to a prestigious private school in the countryside. Jeremy is a scholarship kid who is on the constant run from his grade bullies, namely Rich Goranski.Then, on the first day of the new semester, a new kid arrives. He wears dark clothes, definitely not his uniform, and is very tall. He has an aura about him Jeremy can't resist and soon he's drooling over this new gorgeous boy who he doesn't have a chance with.Or does he?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey welcome to something i've been trying to write for like 2 weeks now. hopefully you enjoy!

It was freezing the first day back to school after winter break. He could feel the residue of Christmas hype lingering on the steps leading to the door. Jeremy celebrated Hanukkah, so on Christmas day him and his dad went to see a movie and ate Chinese food. The rest of the break he hung out with Christine when she wasn’t working and played video games. He was content with not being in school, and now that he was back he was absolutely willing to get hypothermia and die outside the building. There were a line of bushes that ran along the walkway, he could jump into one and pass on unnoticed.

He sighed, shaking his head and tugged on his uniform sweater sleeve as he walked up the steps, almost slipping on the ice. When he stepped in, he was greeted with warm air being blown into his face and the quiet halls where students stood by their lockers and whispered. He swallowed and rushed to try and find his best friend, Christine. He tried to touch the least amount of people he could as he walked through the hall but the feat was nearly impossible. Except, he didn’t seemed to have walked fast enough since Rich Goranski, the school’s big bully, whipped out his foot and made Jeremy stumble a good five feet. His entire body ignited as he rushed forward, refusing to look back at the kids laughing at him.

He should’ve been used to how he was treated since this was his third year, but he was still easy put off by it. He simply wished they would leave him alone. They didn’t bug Christine, why did they bother him so much? Shouldn’t he also have decent treatment? Then he laughed as he remembered that he was one of the few scholarship kids. That’s why no one liked him.

He eventually found Christine, who was organizing binders in her locker and hanging up pictures. He exhaled and walked up to her, leaning against the neighboring locker. She looked up and immediately smiled.

“Jeremy!” She laughed, throwing her arms around his torso. He laughed softly and patted her hair.

“Hey, Christine,” Jeremy smiled.

“Man I thought you’d never get here. I ordered my binders by color, subjects, names, and favorites. I was going insane,” Christine sighed. Jeremy grinned.

“You should definitely go by color, but the rainbow,” Jeremy said, peering into her locker. He reached out to grab one but she smacked his hand away. Jeremy frowned at her.

“I’ll do it later, not two minutes before class starts,” Christine huffed. Jeremy shrugged and adjusted his backpack.

As they stood, silently watching other students moving around, they noticed something odd. Everyone was staring in one direction but Jeremy and Christine couldn’t get a clear shot to what everyone was looking at. Then the bell rang and everyone scattered to get to class on time.

Jeremy turned to Christine and nodded, a silent wish shared between them that nothing bad would happen. After that, both of them split ways and went to their separate classes. Jeremy had math, and was ready to jump out the window as soon as he walked into the classroom. Everyone in the classroom was miserable and angry and no one wanted to be there.

Jeremy reluctantly sat down in his usual spot, then saw that there was a new seating chart. He groaned silently as he wandered to the front of the class and studied the seating chart to find his name. He saw that he was in the back corner by the window and frowned. Now he was going to be cold all semester until March. Only then would he finally become warmer. At least he was in the back and away from most people. He could hypothetically jump out the window and no one would be able to react fast enough. Although, the window was only two feet from the ground, so it wouldn’t do him much good.

He sighed and trudged to his new desk, tossing his bag onto the floor and plopping into his desk. He put his head down and repressed a sigh as the final bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. He looked up and watched as the teacher asked everyone how their holiday was and everyone talked about how they traveled to foreign countries where it never snowed.

He stopped himself from snorting when one girl began telling the story of how her family escaped the mafia in their private resort in Central America. Yet, just as he was about to put his head down, he watched as the door burst open and someone sauntered through. The class went dead silent as the kid stood in the doorway, his backpack hanging over one shoulder.

The jaws of Jeremy and the other girls in the class dropped to the floor when the new kid brushed his hand through his silky dark hair. He was wearing a black coat with a white shirt underneath and black skinny jeans. He had dark skin and thick black glasses, yet with his monochromatic theme his backpack was bright red and covered in patches. He wore the ankle boots with a slight heel that Jeremy saw other guys try to pull off, and just now realized that certain people could in fact pull it off. 

The new kid looked around and then at the teacher, giving her a sly smile. Jeremy could feel everyone’s spines straighten at his lovely white teeth.

“I apologize, miss, I got lost on the way here,” he said, his voice dripping with what Jeremy could only describe as cool-ness. Jeremy needed to expand his vocabulary.

“It’s alright. You must be the new student?” The teacher asked.

“Yes, Michael Mell,” the kid, Michael, responded. Jeremy felt his knees grow weak even though he was sitting.

“Alright, well,” the teacher mumbled as she wandered to check the seating chart. “You sit next to Jeremy, who is right there,” the teacher smiled as she pointed to Jeremy.

Jeremy felt all eyes turn to him and the color drained from his face. He swallowed and offered a shy smile to Michael as he sauntered over. Jeremy was a little shocked, he had never seen someone saunter. When Michael dropped his bag and slid into the chair, Jeremy immediately looked anywhere but his general direction and nervously picked at his nails. He hoped that if he didn’t act interesting or eager, he would never draw attention. But no, of course not, because Michael leaned over and tugged on Jeremy’s sleeve, causing him to turn bright red. Jeremy swallowed and looked at Michael, losing his breath at how gorgeous he was. He really needed to upgrade his vocabulary so he could describe this boy in front of him. His deep brown eyes drew him in so far he didn’t realize Michael was talking.

“Sorry, what?” Jeremy stuttered.

“I asked if I could borrow a pencil,” Michael chuckled.

Jeremy mumbled an apology and other nonsense as he rummaged around his backpack and dug out his pencil bag. He felt his cheeks turn pink with shame, his pencil bag being a pac-man print. He quickly grabbed a pencil and thrust it towards Michael, but Michael merely grinned mischievously for a good bit before taking the pencil. When he eventually took it, he made a point to graze his fingers over Jeremy’s hand before taking the pencil and writing notes.

Jeremy swallowed, looked down, his face turning a dark cherry red and his lips trembling. He was growing increasingly more sweaty throughout class and screamed for the rest of the class in his head. Why did this new kid, who was more attractive than anyone he’s ever met, look at him like that? Jeremy couldn’t place the look in he was given but he was mesmerized and wanted Michael to look at him like that more often. He continuously snuck glances at the boy sitting next to him but always made sure to look away before anyone noticed.

He could’ve watched Michael work all day, honestly. He could watch at how he lazily let his pencil glide across the paper. How his brow became slightly furrowed when he was concentrating, and how he sometimes bit his lip. He often rested his cheek on his hand, resting his elbow on the desk. When he seemed to be halfway listening, Jeremy watched as he would relax, his form growing into a huggable teddy bear. He was so entranced he barely registered the fact that Michael wasn’t wearing his uniform.

Unfortunately, the bell rang sooner than he would’ve liked and he was forced to watch Michael leave just as he had came. It was only when Jeremy was packing his things did he realize Michael had taken his pencil. He frowned, unsure of what to do about it. Should he track him down and ask for it back? Or let him keep it, as a sweet reminder to not forget Jeremy? As he walked, he felt himself grow a smile at the thought of Michael thinking of Jeremy everytime he used the pencil. He forced down the urge to skip down the halls and instead settled for the butterflies in his stomach.

His joy carried him all the way through lunch where he eagerly sprinted to find Christine and tell her everything. He barely registered what passed him by as he ran as fast as he could to their usual lunch spot. Their school was perched on a hill, the bottom of it for the junior high kids, and the top for the high schoolers. There was the giant soccer field and basketball courts, the weirdly large parking lot, the gym and music building, and the picnic tables. Jeremy and Christine claimed one freshman year that was under a great oak tree. Even though it had been freezing that morning, by noon it had warmed up and was bearable enough with just a sweater. He said that, but he knew both of them would be chattering by the end of lunch.

Once he saw that Christine was already sitting at the table, Jeremy began to walk faster towards her. He was practically bouncing on his feet. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks when he saw his brand new crush standing in front of Rich and his gang. Jeremy’s heart sank, knowing that Michael would become one of them and regularly give Jeremy shit for being openly bisexual. He didn’t know why he felt so hurt, he honestly didn’t expect someone as gorgeous as Michael to stay in the shadows, did he?

He swallowed down his sorrow and began to walk forwards again. He clearly wasn’t quick enough considering Rich spotted him and began calling out to him. He winced and woefully turned to face his bullies.

“Hey look! It’s the boy who can’t decide or afford anything! How’s the janitor shack holding up?” Rich hollered. His friends all laughed, approving his comment.

Jeremy’s face heat up and he turned to walk faster, shame piling like worms in his stomach. He tried to force himself to continue to watch his shoes but he looked up anyways. He was surprised to meet Michael’s eyes, which were unreadable from this distance.

“Ah, so you are the rulers of this kingdom,” Michael said, suddenly spinning to face Rich. Jeremy stopped, curious as to how Rich and co. would react.

“Well, when you put it like that I guess we are,” Rich said with a devilish grin.

“Interesting. Too bad you’re as good of rulers as wooden ones,” Michael said, looking down at Rich. All of the goons were at a loss for words. No one ever spoke to them like that.

“Excuse me?” Rich sputtered.

“How about, instead of insulting poor innocent youth such as that lovely bundle of goods over there, you focus on maybe a new haircut?” Michael said coldly. Everyone’s jaws dropped, including Jeremy’s.

“I was considering at least tolerating you, but as a gay male, I think I’ll pass,” Michael snorted.

_ Did Michael just compliment him? Not only that, did he insult Rich’s hair? And did he say  _ **_gay_ ** _? _

“I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” Michael said curtly before sauntering off to God knows where.

Rich caught Jeremy’s eye and Jeremy had never ran so fast in his life. He sprinted until his hands slammed on the table and he couldn’t really breathe. Christine jumped and looked up at him with a mix of shock and confusion. He choked on his dry throat and slowly slid onto the bench.

“Are you okay?” Christine managed out, handing him a bottle of water. He greedily chugged down a good bit before taking a breath.

“Remember in the hall this morning when everyone was freaking out over something?” Jeremy finally exhaled. Christine nodded. “Well, turns out that there’s a new transfer student. His name is Michael Mell and he is the most gorgeous boy I’ve ever laid eyes on and turns out he’s gay? He just told Rich to change his haircut which was honestly just accurate it’s kinda bad, and called me a bundle of goods and-and-and then left! He’s crazy!”

Christine stared at him as he slowly caught his breath. She then shook her head and gently laid a hand over Jeremy’s.

“Jeremy, I think you’re gonna get laid,” she said, with the most terrifying poker face.

“What?” Jeremy screeched, yanking his hand away. Christine let out a burst of giggles before turning serious again.

“Jeremy, he clearly thinks you’re cute, he’s into dudes, and he doesn’t like Rich. If you don’t bang him by the end of the semester, I will personally kick your butt,” Christine huffed, determined. Jeremy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Christine, I’ve had him in one class. Although,” Jeremy trailed off, remembering the pencil robbery. He felt himself smile.

“What?” Christine asked, poking him.

“He, well,” Jeremy giggled. “He asked to borrow my pencil, and then he left with it. That has to be something right?”

Christine laughed, grinning at him. Then her smile dropped.

“Jeremy, you have to get his number by the end of the day,” she deadpanned.

“Christine, I don’t think I’ve gotten anyone’s number before. Boy or girl,” he whined. Christine shook her head but didn’t respond.

The two sat quietly, shivering every once and a while, eating their lunch and watching everyone else mill about. Christine was going to the talk to the drama teacher after school to ask about what show was going to be put on and when auditions were. Jeremy was planning on going home and maybe thinking about Michael before going to bed really early. Christine then began to point out how Jeremy was totally growing a cheesy gross crush on this new boy which made Jeremy nervous. He didn’t want to like this new boy, he knew he didn’t stand a chance, but god he was the hottest human being Jeremy had ever seen. 

As they both sat and pondered over the near future, the bell rang and they both began to pack their things. The pair then began to hum a familiar tune, laughing as they began to sing it out loud, far enough away to be unafraid of ridicule. Once they were mostly packed, Christine took Jeremy’s hand and they both spun around under the tree. Jeremy began complaining about how cold it was so the both of them stopped, still smiling.

As they walked back to the school building, they were crushed between the other tens of bodies and were split to go to their separate classes. As Jeremy eventually forced his way into his class he sadly sat down and waited until his last period came. In each class there was a new seating chart, and in each class he continuously didn’t listen until the bell rang. Finally, he was relieved to arrive to his final period, English. It wasn’t that he was particularly good at the subject, but he was fascinated by books and their worlds and the mysteries behind the words used. He was mesmerized by the fact that entire worlds could be built and shows through pieces of paper with ink on them.

When he walked into the classroom, he was hit by the smell of worn down pages and a cinnamon candle. He smiled and walked to greet his teacher, who always had been kind to him and understanding. His teacher grinned as she looked up at him.

“Hey, Jeremy! How was your break?” His teacher, Ms. Grace asked. 

“Well, my dad and I celebrated Hanukkah when school was still going and then we chilled all through winter break,” he shrugged, shifting his backpack.

“Get anything exciting?” She grinned.

“Mostly video games, and a few writing supplies,” Jeremy smiled.

“Sounds like you,” she chuckled. “Well, there’s a new seating chart and you’re in the back, but in the center section.”

Jeremy nodded and happily wandered to the back, his hand absentmindedly grazing over the tops of the desks. As he approached the back, he stared at the bulletin boards on the wall and smiled to himself when he saw his bad drawing from the beginning of the year that was assigned to describe themselves. Jeremy had made it all video game references, which only Ms. Grace appreciated. He shook his head as he sat down, dreamily looking out the window.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a large body plopped down next to him and he felt their eyes on him. Jeremy slowly turned and his face began to burn when he was faced with none other than Michael Mell. He swallowed and immediately looked down.

“Well, lucky us, we have two classes together,” Michael chuckled. Jeremy almost choked.

“Yeah, it seems fate is on our side,” Jeremy mumbled. Michael laughed and Jeremy almost cried at how beautiful it was.

“Oh Jeremy, fate truly is. I cannot wait for the adventures we will have in the back of class,” Michael smirked. Jeremy once again felt his knees grow weak.

Michael turned towards the front and ran a hand through his wavy hair. Jeremy swallowed and watched through his peripheral vision and michael pushed up his glasses and licked his lips. Jeremy’s eyes almost popped out of his head and he immediately looked down at his paper, squeezing his legs together. Mrs. Grace eventually began the lesson and Jeremy really tried to focus on the lesson. Then he remember that Christine wanted him to get Michael’s number. How could he possibly bring it up casually? He was so awkward and lanky, nothing he could possibly do would come off as smooth.

Maybe as semester began to pick up and he was more used to Michael, he could casually bring it up. Maybe they could even become friends and Jeremy could introduce him to video games and then they would grow closer and maybe their relationship could grow into something more and- Jeremy almost snorted. Where were these thoughts coming from? He shook his head and went back to staring at his notebook. There was no possible way Michael Mell would fall for him. He wore fashionable clothes, his hair looked softer than clouds, and he was built like a grizzly bear. Even if Michael was gay, it wouldn’t determine if he would ever like Jeremy, even in a platonic way. Jeremy rubbed his eyes and looked over, his head down, and saw Michael writing something in his notebook. Jeremy was slightly confused since there was only ten minutes left in class and the teacher was done talking.

He looked back at his notebook and contemplated passing notes with the boy, the gorgeous one, next to him. Fortunately he didn’t have to think about it for long since he watched a tiny folded piece of paper slid across the desk and brushed his hand. He immediately shot his head up, staring intently at the board. Once his heart stopped racing he looked back down and slowly unfolded the note and grinned at what he saw.

_ ‘I seem to have lost my number. Care to give me yours? ;)’ _

Jeremy bit his lip before quickly scribbling it down, sliding it back whilst staring directly ahead. He heard Michael laugh quietly, just before the bell rang. Jeremy took his time packing, hoping Michael would do the same. Except, Michael merely grabbed his things and quickly left, not even looking back. Suddenly Jeremy was worried Michael was never going to text him, only use it to mock him for believing he actually had a chance. Jeremy felt his lip quiver as he ran as fast as he could to the front doors and towards the parking lot. Christine didn’t need a ride today so he hopped into his care without a second thought and started it.

He plugged in his phone and scrolled through his playlists before tapping on the one he used to ignore the world. He blasted it as he drove out of the parking lot and towards home. He could only hope Michael would text him so he could read it when he got home, but he began to doubt it more and more. He shook his head as he began to go a little too far over the speed limit as he headed to his house. He was hoping his dad wouldn’t be home until later so he would have time for video games without being bothered by his dad.

Once he pulled into his driveway he sat in his car, letting songs simply float through the car until he was satisfied. He shut down the car and reached for his phone. His heart leapt out of chest when he saw a text from a number not in his contacts. He let out a squeak before throwing himself out of the car and running inside up to his room. When he entered, his closed the door and slid down until he was on the floor, his back flushed against the door. He swallowed and pulled out his phone, unlocking it and looking at what the text said.

_ ‘I’m going to assume this is the Jeremy Heere, or I will be very heartbroken.’ _

Jeremy genuinely giggled and then felt ashamed of himself. He chewed his lip, trying to think of a clever response.

**Me:** _My deepest apologies, I believe you’ve been scroogled by someone._

 **Michael Mell:** _Oh my, how unfortunate. It seems to me that I’ll have to confront him at the beginning of school tomorrow._

**Me:** _ I sincerely wish you the best of luck ;) _

Jeremy snorted as he saw Michael had read his text but didn’t reply. He considered responding with an apology, then realized if he did that Michael might not talk to him the next morning. So Jeremy left his phone to charge as he set up his console to play video games. He thought about whether he wanted to continue his infuriating platformer or if he wanted to try playing online. He didn’t know if any of his friends were online, but it couldn’t help to just play online rounds.

He started up the first person shooter and waited for the lobby to load. It took a while, and whilst it loaded Jeremy started scrolling through his Twitter feed. He only really had one because Christine did and she wanted him to stay updated on current events. He never tweeted anything, and only had around ten followers, but he decided to tweet today.

Right as he finished typing it, the round started causing Jeremy to throw his phone and channel all his focus on the match. It wasn’t that the game was particularly hard, or even thrilling, but if he didn’t focus he would lose and that wasn’t fun. As he sat and played, he didn’t realize he had mowed through several rounds and the sun had set. He rubbed his eyes and left the lobby, staring at the menu of his console. It was starting to hurt his eyes since the rest of the room was pitch black. He sighed and shut his controller off. But just as he started to get up to turn off the console, a message popped up.

Jeremy stumbled back, not expecting the loud ringing that happened. He squinted his eyes to see who it was from and noticed that he didn’t recognize the handle. He quickly flipped on the light and hopped back onto his bed, opening the message. It was from a username he didn’t recognize, but the message was simple enough.

_ ‘You’re not bad.’ _

Jeremy frowned. Was this supposed to be a compliment? It wasn’t very nice. Not only that, the username was quite ridiculous. Who named themselves “b0yzRcut3”? Jeremy swallowed and nervously responded.

_ ‘If that was a compliment, it was a bad one.’ _

Jeremy set down the controller and picked up his phone. Maybe he would text Michael. After all, he seemed to want to talk to Jeremy which wasn’t a common occurrence. Then again, he had nothing to talk about and worried that any topic he could come up with would lead to a dead conversation. Jeremy shook his head and shut off his TV and console, not bothering to check for a new message.

He wanted to sleep, not having any homework. He wasn’t hungry and his dad wouldn’t be home for a while. He quickly changed into comfier clothes and hopped into bed, scrolling through his phone until he fell asleep and into a deep slumber.

__

  
  


Jeremy yawned as he once again approached the school steps. His dad had just dropped him off and headed off to who knows where for another odd job. It wasn’t as cold as it was the day before, but Jeremy was still grouchy about it. He rubbed his face as he trudged up the stairs and into the doors, feeling the warm air brush his face. He wanders through the entrance, heading to where Christine’s locker was. He didn’t make it very far though, since he ran right into a very firm chest.

Jeremy stumbled a bit and looked up, worried to see Jake Dillinger, but was happily surprised to see Michael. Jeremy bit back a grin as he studied Michael’s face. Michael, who was actually wearing his uniform this time, his black coat slung over his arm and his clothes neat and precise. Jeremy could only imagine how expensive the rest of his wardrobe was.

“It seems to me, that I’ve been given a false number?” Michael smirked. Jeremy swallowed.

“Well, it seems to me, that you are very gullible,” Jeremy chirped back. Michael chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to do that a lot but Jeremy didn’t mind since it was a sight to see.

Michael was around half a foot taller than Jeremy, very well built but not ripped like the other guys of the school. His hair moved like a grassy plain on his head, calm and extremely soft looking. When he ran a hand through his hair, his face tilted up, his glasses facing the light causing a glare, and his body moving in one single motion. Jeremy could watch him all day.

“Well, since you so cleverly deceived me, you owe me one,” Michael said. Jeremy almost fell over but managed to just throw Michael a confused glance.

“I’ll let you know what you owe when I need it,” he winked before sauntering off. Jeremy watched, a hand reaching up to touch his very warm cheeks.

He giggled and quickly ran to Christine’s locker, suppressing a squeal. When he arrived, he tapped a simple rhythm on her locker, causing her to slam it shut. He was met with a smug face and demanding eyes.

“Well,” Jeremy sighed, twirling one of his curls. Christine gagged at the mere gesture Jeremy just pulled. Jeremy lightly punched her shoulder, turning dark red.

“How long did you text?” Christine grinned.

“Actually, that’s the thing,” Jeremy mumbled. “We sent maybe, three texts?”

“You what?” Christine screamed. Jeremy jumped and looked around to be met with annoyed stares.

“Christine, pipe down. It’s not a big deal, we actually just talked,” Jeremy said, his frown slowly turning into a smile. Christine looked at him with an expectant look. Jeremy rubbed the back of his neck.

“He kinda just said I owe him?” Jeremy said. Christine’s face dropped.

“Seriously? Nothing happened? Jeremy did you really let that boy run away?” Christine snapped. Jeremy offered a meek smile but Christine shook her head.

“Listen, it sounds bad but it was great for me! I mean he actually knows my name and he likes guys and he at least talks to me and he found me this morning so,” Jeremy said dreamily. Christine snorted, causing him to frown.

“I don’t think so. Honestly if you’re not gonna put in the effort, then you’re never gonna get anyone. You have to get out there, Jere! I promise you won’t regret it,” Christine said. Jeremy merely shook his head and they headed their separate ways for class.

Jeremy began to think back over the little movements he started doing. The twirling of the hair, the giggling, all the little things. Then Jeremy huffed, annoyed with himself for devolving into a schoolgirl when a new students shows up. He knows absolutely nothing about Michael, much less about what he would be like in a relationship. He could end up being abusive or like the popular kids or…

Or maybe he could be nice. Maybe he liked good music and long drives and movies and video games and singing and-

Jeremy’s thoughts were cut short by seeing Michael. But Michael wasn’t alone. No, Michael was against a wall, looking down at a kid named Dustin. Jeremy knew Dustin was pretty open about his sexuality, which was that he didn’t like labels. Dustin was also attractive and popular. Two things Jeremy wasn’t.

Jeremy swallowed as he saw Michael and Dustin exchange knowing smiles. He even watched as Dustin reached up and brushed a hand against Michael’s shoulder, and Michael didn’t flinch. Jeremy rushed into class before he could see anymore. He couldn’t bear to watch his newfound crush flirting with a jock like what they had was nothing. Jeremy felt sick.

What they had was nothing. Who was Jeremy kidding thinking otherwise? He was a loser kid who hadn’t really dated anyone before and didn’t know how to approach others. He exhaled, letting his head fall onto the table. He wasn’t going to move for the rest of the period even if it killed him. He was miserable. Why couldn’t he have one good thing in his life? He just wanted a cute boy to flirt with and maybe eventually date. Of course that would never happen because he was Jeremy Heere, local lonely bisexual on a scholarship ride.

It was hopeless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yo it's a rough rollercoaster, idk how else to describe it i'm bad at this

Jeremy forgot that he and Michael had first period together, which led to him almost having a heart attack when Michael sat down in the desk next to him. He didn’t dare look at Michael, finding his notebook incredibly fascinating. He began noticing how there were different shades in the red border by the holes, and the blue lines didn’t really dignify any sort of borders. He winced when he felt a tap on his shoulder, slowly looking up to be met with the loveliest brown eyes. Jeremy could lose his soul in those eyes.

“You alright? You ran into here rather quickly,” Michael said, giving a small smile. Jeremy put all his energy into not smiling back, instead giving him an emotionless look, but still felt tremors underneath the skin on his hands.

“I figured I should get in some cardio,” Jeremy said. Michael chuckled, unnerved by Jeremy’s nonchalant but nervous energy.

“Maybe I should take some lessons from a fit guy like you,” Michael said, giving a sly smirk. Jeremy gulped, looking down, furiously batting at the butterflies in his stomach.

“I think you’re fit enough,” Jeremy mumbled. He then realized he said that out loud and prayed to whatever god was up there that Michael didn’t hear him.

He looked out of his peripheral vision to see Michael in a state Jeremy could only describe as disbelief. Thankfully the bell rang and both of them went back to their normal selves. Jeremy only slightly panicking, his leg bouncing up and down and Michael relaxing into his seat, running a hand through his beautiful hair, as though nothing had happened.

For the rest of the period, Jeremy tried his hardest to ignore Michael. He tried to ignore how simple and sweet Michael looked in his uniform and writing down notes. He tried to bite back a smile when he saw how lovely Michael’s writing was, and how silly his random doodles were. He definitely did not imagine running his hand through Michael’s hair to see just how soft it was. He refused to catch Michael’s eye when he knew Michael was looking at him. He absolutely did not turn bright red when he saw Michael sketching a small portrait of someone who looked like Jeremy on his notes.

When the bell rang, Jeremy was the one who beat Michael out the door. He was furious with how this kid was toying with his emotions. One minute, he’s making him feel like he’s on cloud nine, and then he’s flirting with one of the few out kids in the school like it was nothing. Jeremy rarely found guys cute, rarely caught feelings for people. But when he found someone he really liked, it was game over for him. Now Michael was gonna pretend like how they acted together was nothing?

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe Michael hadn’t even been flirting originally, maybe he just liked Jeremy in a bro way. Bros sometimes just compliment each other. Just because he was gay didn’t mean he would like Jeremy. Jeremy wasn’t exactly the most attractive kid in school, acne along his forehead and on the sides of his cheeks. He also was extremely lanky but not tall enough for it to be normal enough. Not only that, they’d only interacted maybe four times, and none of the exchanges led Jeremy to believe that Michael liked him.

Didn’t he call Jeremy a lovely bundle of goods though? And he sent winky faces, and he found Jeremy in the morning like he said he would, so wasn’t that something? He kind of defended him from Rich on the first day, and that was brave. People never interacted with Jeremy like that, so it  _ had  _ to be something, right?

Jeremy floated through his classes in a cloud of doubt and confusion, not really sure how to handle this new kid. He would dream about Michael’s gorgeous brown eyes and his silky soft hair, then scold himself for even thinking those thoughts. Heaven forbid he thought about actually interacting with Michael. And obviously he would never even dream about Michael sitting with him under the tree during lunch and talking about books and video games. He would never imagine holding his hand and laughing at stupid inside jokes they had or anything like that.

Jeremy almost tripped when he began to walk outside, whipping his head around to see if anyone noticed. That was clearly the wrong choice since he saw Michael, leaning against a wall next to one of the trophy cases and talking to a guy Jeremy had never seen. They were laughing and Michael did his signature move, running his hand through his hair, and Jeremy could see how the other guy melted on the spot. He felt himself watching in shame, being unable to look away as Michael reached out and brushed his hand against the guy’s cheek before walking outside past Jeremy, not even seeing him. Jeremy saw the look of disbelief and lust in the guy’s eyes as he wandered off. Jeremy felt the bile in his stomach rise as he ran off, rubbing his eyes and trying to block the image out of his head.

Of course, Rich had to pull the last straw when he started hollering at Jeremy. He wanted to ignore it, and he almost did but Rich didn’t let up. He used old nicknames, like freak, twink, poverty, charity case, among others. He figured he was already having a bad day, so how could it possibly get worse?

Apparently it could get a lot worse.

When he turned around, he saw Rich was with Michael. Michael was simply standing, his hands shoved in his pockets and rocking on his feet. He immediately felt his fight or flight instincts kick in. He began to wonder how far he could get before Rich got him if he ran. He decided he could make it past the field and maybe a hundred feet away from the tree and then Christine would swoop in and save him. But just as he was going to turn and run, Rich demanded he go over to them.

He paused, wondering what the worst Rich could do was, before reluctantly trudging over, standing a good five feet away from the two. He glared down at his feet, determined to not take Rich’s insults to heart. Then again, he told himself that constantly and he almost always ended up crying.

“Michael was just telling me about how you were crying like a pussy over him talking with another guy,” Rich sneered. 

“Did he now,” Jeremy deadpanned. Michael looked uncomfortable, which was out of character.

“I believe his name is Apollo, isn’t that just lovely?” Rich laughed.

“I didn’t even open my mouth to you when you called me over, Richard,” Michael said, slowly transforming back into his chill self. Rich twitched at the sound of his old name, but kept his eyes on Jeremy. Jeremy felt himself grow more worried.

“Point is, I’m wondering why little poor Jeremy is so upset,” Rich spat, baring his teeth like an animal. Jeremy suddenly felt like a rabbit awaiting the jaws of the fox, very afraid but not daring to move.

“I’m not upset,” Jeremy managed to say. “If anything I’d say you’re the ass for making up these lies about me being upset.”

Jeremy didn’t process what happened until he felt the blood dripping from his nose. He stumbled back in shock, looking down at Rich’s fists to see his blood on it. His eyes darted up between Michael and Rich. Rich’s eyes were full of pure rage, his hair seemed to be ablaze as he stood there, but Michael seemed the complete opposite. He was stoic, his hair gently blowing but never in his face, his eyes unreadable through his glasses. Before things could escalate any further, Jeremy bolted for the tree, feeling tears run down his cheeks. Two days into the new semester and he already had his heart played with and another bloody nose.

Rich hadn’t turned to physical bullying for ages, deciding that he could get to Jeremy solely through words. He constantly taunted him for his wealth and his unfortunately open sexuality and how he should’ve stayed in the closet, but really only stuck to that. When Jeremy landed on the bench of the picnic table, he let himself break down, resting his head on the table. He wasn’t alone for long since Christine arrived shortly after, inhaling sharply before stepping forward to rub small circles on his back. Jeremy sat up, looking at Christine with his big blue eyes which were slowly turning red, and resisted the urge to wipe his nose. He did not want blood on his uniform sweater, it was almost impossible to get blood out of the material. Christine reached into her bag and pulled out her handkerchief which she always carried and began to wipe his nose. He sighed once she was done and rested his head against her stomach.

“Was today that bad?” She whispered. Jeremy nodded.

Christine carefully helped him sit up, then sat down. She helped him rest his head on her shoulder and rubbed his shoulder. She waited for him until he was confident enough to explain what happened.

“Michael flirted with Dustin this morning, right outside our class, and then he talked to me at the beginning like we were old friends, and then-then when I was coming outside he was talking to someone but I do-don’t know who they were, Rich said his name was Apollo or something, and then I went outside and he was talking to Rich and then Rich hit me so I ran here,” Jeremy blurted, a few tears spilling out and spit dribbling from his lips.

Christine sighed and held him closer, wiping his mouth with the part of the cloth that wasn’t bloody, very worried about her friend. Jeremy sniffled, almost gagging at the taste of blood that dripped down his throat. Why was Rich so cruel? So hateful and forceful? And why didn’t Michael do anything? He just stood there and watched it all happened, not a single reaction happened on his face.

He eventually sat up, staring down at the table, feeling completely empty. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, sniffling once more. He began apologizing for getting her handkerchief bloody but she waved him off. The two sat in silence for the rest of lunch, trying to calm down as much as they could before facing the rest of the day.

Jeremy didn’t want to go to his last period, where he would be stuck in a table with Michael, and have to acknowledge his presence. He simply didn't want to. He didn’t want Michael to see his bruised face or sense his hurt heart. He didn't want Michael to have that power over him. So in every class, he tried his damndest to focus on his work so the classes would go as slow as they would. Unfortunately, because he was so focused, they passed by rather quickly and soon he was walking once again into his English classroom with the cinnamon candle and gentle lighting.

He reluctantly slid into his seat, resting his forehead on the desk. His head was pounding from the punch he took earlier, and even though his nose wasn’t bleeding he could still taste it in his throat which sucked. Jeremy didn’t have any stronger words than that. He huffed as the one minute bell rang, and he hoped Michael would just ditch class all together. His wishes were not granted when he heard a hearty thump as someone sat in the chair next to him.

He sat up straight and stared straight ahead, refusing to look at the boy next to him. He expected Michael to do the same, so he was shocked when a slip of paper brushed against his arm. He jolted with shock and snapped his eyes downward, still refusing to look at Michael. Ms. Grace had begun talking, explaining what was happening that day in class but Jeremy wasn’t listening. He reached out and unfolded the paper to reveal neat handwriting.

_ ‘Hey, are you okay?’ _

Jeremy broke his rule to glare at Michael who was looking at him expectantly.

“No, ‘cause thanks to you, I’m not,” Jeremy whispered under his breath. Michael shrugged and took back the paper to write something else down.

_ ‘If you’re blaming me for a punch someone else gave you, you’re pointing to the wrong person. I’m not against you, Jeremy.’ _

Jeremy snorted, thinking that Michael wasn’t really for him either.

“You didn’t stop Rich when he lunged for me, you just sat back and watched,” Jeremy hissed. Michael looked at him, his eyes showing an emotion Jeremy couldn’t decipher.

_ ‘If you think I’m gonna pummel someone for something as small as a punch to the nose, you’re wrong.’ _

At that Jeremy’s jaw dropped. Did this guy really believe that the punch was nothing? Jeremy’s face would be black and blue for the rest of the first week of school, and his self-esteem had dropped to a new low. Rich had turned to something he stopped doing years ago, and Michael was acting like it was nothing?

“You know what? I think I should ask to move seats,” Jeremy murmured. He heard Michael chuckle, infuriating Jeremy.

“He could’ve done worse, you should be thankful,” Michael said quietly. Jeremy glared daggers at him, wishing he could smack the stupid smug smirk off Michael’s face.

“You’re a dick,” Jeremy hissed.

“And you need to chill out,” Michael retaliated, his posture relaxed but his eyes ablaze.

“I just got punched in the nose because of shit you said to Rich,” Jeremy snapped, forcing his voice to stay quiet.

“If you think I would ever speak to Rich, specifically to make fun of some kid, we both were wrong about each other,” Michael said, his expression empty. Jeremy felt a cold feeling in his stomach.

What was that supposed to mean? About each other? What did Michael previously think about him? Did he really have a chance before and he just now blew it? He felt his heart grow heavy, his feet melting into the floor. He forced his eyes to stay on the board. The rest of the class was filled with tension between the two of them, and Jeremy felt as though he was going to throw up.

When the bell finally rang, Jeremy booked it out of the classroom, almost tripping over several people. He wasn’t sure if Christine needed a ride so he couldn’t leave immediately. So even as he ran towards his car, he felt no more relaxed than he did in the classroom since he couldn’t jump in and drive away. So he leaned against his door, bouncing his leg furiously and praying Christine was only running late and would be here very soon. When he couldn’t see her in the entrance, he decided to check his phone. There was a text from Michael.

**Michael Mell:** Do you think we could talk?

Jeremy seized up. Should he respond? Or should he leave him on read because he was petty? Michael was really hot, Jeremy couldn’t deny that, no one could. Clearly he kept wanting to talk to Jeremy, but he also treated Jeremy getting punched as nothing and something to be grateful for. Why should Jeremy even consider giving him the time? Michael seemed to be only leading him on, and Jeremy didn’t want that. He kept hoping Christine would text him or show up soon but he didn’t see her anywhere.

He turned to open his car door, and took a step back when he saw Michael by his car a few rows down. He wasn’t looking at Jeremy, in fact he didn’t know if Michael had even seen him standing at his car. Jeremy then noticed what type of car Michael drove. It was a 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Jeremy was impressed by the fact that Michael could even drive it without it breaking down every thirty minutes. Then again, Jeremy drove the ugliest silver PT Cruiser, handed down from his dad. He couldn’t complain.

He swallowed and looked back down at his phone. Christine had sent a text saying that she was only running late and would be there as soon as she could. He sighed and rested his forehead against the hood of his car. He opened the text from Michael and hastily replied.

**Me:** Why?

It was a few seconds too many before Michael responded.

**Michael:** Because I was rude to you and want to apologize.

**Me:** You’re forgiven.

Jeremy quickly hopped into his car and started it up, praying that Michael would never respond and just leave him alone for the rest of the semester. The Jeremy could admire him for his looks rather than personality and he’d be over this stupid crush in no time. He began formulating a plan as to how he would distance himself as much as possible as to avoid catching even more feelings. He would ignore him during their classes and pretend he didn’t exist the rest of the time. Michael seemed content with flirting with half of the school, so why should he care?

Soon enough, Christine arrived and threw herself into the car, panting. Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her before pulling out of the parking lot and driving away from the awful building. Once they were on the road, Jeremy huffed. Christine looked over at him with a curious expression.

“Michael did nothing during the punch. When I asked him about it, he claimed he wouldn’t pummel someone for a simple punch, and then proceeded to say that I should be grateful Rich didn’t do worse! Who the hell says that?” Jeremy said, yelling the last few words and fuming in his seat. Christine looked a little taken aback.

“Did he really say that?”

“Well, he technically wrote it down, but yes.”

“That’s awful!” Christine gasped. Jeremy nodded silently, deciding his words would be too harsh.

“If he ever speaks to you again, let me know and I will personally kick him directly to the moon.”

“Christine, that won’t be necessary,” Jeremy said, a smile slowly spreading onto his face.

“I won’t hesitate, Jeremiah Heere,” Christine said, nodded her head sharply. Jeremy laughed.

For the rest of the ride to Christine’s house, Christine plugged in her phone to Jeremy’s makeshift aux cord and played her showtunes. Jeremy only knew a few of them, but was happy to hear her belt her heart out. Sometime he would join when he recognized a chorus and they both laughed when they couldn’t hit certain notes and settled for shrieking the words. Jeremy wouldn’t trade her for the world.

After he dropped off Christine he went back to formulating how to avoid Michael at all costs. By the time he arrived to his house, his mind and heart were set on completely putting Michael out of his life before more damage could be done. Hopefully Rich would also leave him alone so he wouldn’t be teased for his very strong attraction to Michael. Then he just had to finish the semester and he’d only have a year left before he could leave and go to whatever university he could get into that was far, far away. He would be okay.

__

Two weeks had passed, but it felt like years for Jeremy. He had forgotten how heavy the workload of the school year could be over break. As soon as he got home, he had absolutely no time to play video games since he had to immediately start on homework. The only time he could play was on weekends when he put off homework until Sunday night. He still stayed afloat, keeping his grades and dad at bay. He didn’t mind his classes. He eventually responded to the weird message in his inbox, and him and this new person talked occasionally.

The other person was a guy, and he was Jeremy’s age. He really liked RPG’s and side-scroller games, but would happily play Jeremy in first person shooters if it meant kicking his ass. Usually if both of them were tired, they would settle for a simply multiplayer platform and play until they couldn’t see straight. At that point both of them would say goodbye and fall asleep. Jeremy was too scared to chat over his headset, so he settled for messaging the kid in between rounds. He was really funny and sarcastic, but also patient when Jeremy couldn’t figure out the controls for something. Once Jeremy did figure them out though, the other guy would annihilate him on the spot. Jeremy took to calling him “Boyz” since his username was so ridiculous. Boyz called him Germ, as in the things that people try to avoid. Jeremy always argued that germs were necessary to help keep humans alive, but then Boyz would just call him a nerd and they went back to playing.

He also had managed to keep Michael away. Albeit, they did sit together, and they saw each other around school, but they both could feel the tension and were smart enough to stay away from each other. Michael had continued to flirt with other guys around school, even going so far as to go out during lunch with some of them. When Jeremy saw that, he pretended he didn’t feel a sickness in his stomach as he walked past with determination. Then when he got to Christine he would go on raving rants that usually ended in him making absolutely no sense. She always listened though, and Jeremy could never thank her enough for that.

Rich hadn’t punched him since the incident, which was nice. He still hollered at him, sometimes tripped him in the hallways, but he had mostly backed off. Jeremy didn’t understand why, since Rich was usually relentless. Either way, Jeremy was very happy to accept the attention he wasn’t getting. The rest of his gang had never really bothered him, but they all seemed to really want Michael’s attention. He often saw Chloe wandering over and trying to show Michael something on her phone, but he was never really impressed. Sometimes Jake would try and play catch with Michael on one of the fields, but Michael would just give him a look before walking off. Jenna Rolan would sometimes compliment him on something really weird but he would plug in his headphones and keep walking. Brooke seemed to really want to be friends, asking him about his car and clothes and where he came before. He gave vague answers, but he usually hung around her and let her ask questions. It was interesting to see a little blonde girl with an extremely tall brunette. She usually just talked nonsense but Michael seemed to like being around her.

He also continued to break the uniform code, but only slightly so he could still get away with most of it. He wore jeans with minimal rips in them, he wore leather jackets over his uniform shirts, he wore hats indoors, mainly snapbacks and beanies, and he had these cool white headphones he would drape around his neck. Sometimes he would sport these little sunglasses clips over his regular glasses. He looked gorgeous in every single outfit he wore, his hair perfectly combed and never messy. It drove a lot of people insane, either because they couldn’t have him or they hated him with all their being. Jeremy found himself on the fence for the opinions, finding that he still couldn’t deny that Michael was very much a bundle of goods. And boy did Jeremy definitely not think about what Michael looked like under the clothes because he was a heavenly child that never experienced or even thought about sin.

So he settled for admiring from afar, watching as Michael ran his hand through his hair, how he adjusted his jacket or hat, how he sometimes smiled when someone said something funny to him. Though the one thing he never changed was his glasses, the thick black-rimmed glasses. Jeremy wished he looked as good as Michael did in glasses. He never saw Michael with his glasses off, Michael never even took them off to wipe them. Of course, he wouldn’t mind seeing Michael with them off, but he most definitely wasn’t going to imagine seeing him without them constantly. He would never dedicate that kind of time to a guy who was definitely out of his league. Because Michael was just a concept, an idea that Jeremy would never ever consider putting in his head.

When Jeremy walked into his first period, Michael was already in his seat. He was lounged back, scrolling through his phone, and wearing the big black coat he wore when he first arrived. Jeremy swallowed and sat down in his seat, pulling out his notebook slowly as to avoid conversation. He wasn’t so lucky when Michael suddenly adjusted his body so he was facing Jeremy.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Michael said bluntly. Jeremy swallowed and sat up straight, looking over at Michael.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jeremy said cooly, placing his pencils beside his notebook in perfect orderly fashion.

“Oh I think you do,” Michael chuckled, reaching out and messing up the pencils. Jeremy fought the urge to smile and settles for smacking Michael’s hand.

“I haven’t been avoiding you, there are enough people in this school for me to end up not seeing you everyday,” Jeremy huffed. Michael rubbed his hand but gave him an amused look.

“This is a private school, Jeremy,” Michael smirked, causing butterflies to erupt in Jeremy’s stomach. His name sounded so pretty on Michael’s lips. “There’s not enough people to separate us.”

“There’s quite a lot of people in this building-” Jeremy started.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Michael sighed, rubbing his eyes.

Jeremy frowned, glaring down at his desk.

“Listen, I just wanted to be,” Michael waved his hands for the right word. “I wanted to be your friend.”

Jeremy snorted. Michael gave him a look he couldn’t decipher. Before the conversation could continue the final bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. Jeremy was partially relieved to be spared from Michael’s interrogation but still ached for his attention. He was very conflicted and therefore only partially paid attention in class, trying to have his eyes only focus on the board and notebook. Yet he found himself glancing over to Michael, who was usually just doodling in his notebook and playing with the sleeves of his coat. Jeremy felt something stir in his heart but he continued to shut it down until it was only a dull thrum.

He tried to fill his brain with useless equations that would really only matter until the last test was given, but for now they were a good enough distraction. Until the class ended, Jeremy stuffed his head with enough things that they began to spill out of his ears. He didn’t register the other kids were packing up until the bell rang and everyone was rushing out the door. Well, everyone except for Michael. He swallowed as he began packing up, hoping Michael would give up on waiting and leave him.

Michael never did what he hoped though, did he?

Once Jeremy was done, he stood and started for the door. He didn’t make it very far when Michael suddenly grabbed his wrist. Jeremy twisted away from him, giving Michael the dirtiest look he could muster. Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair, and it would’ve gotten to Jeremy if he wasn’t angry.

“Don’t touch me,” Jeremy spat.

“You weren’t going to listen to be otherwise,” Michael snapped back. Jeremy frowned, taking a step back. The passing period was coming to an end, the halls clearing.

“Why do you want to talk to me so badly? I thought you might actually like me and then you started flirting with other guys and then you literally told me to be grateful that Rich punched me in the fucking nose and now you’re being nice again? What do you want?” Jeremy blurted, yelling the last sentence. Michael didn’t move through all of Jeremy talking, only standing and taking it in. Jeremy began rubbing his wrist, feeling the burn of Michael’s hand on his skin.

“As if I’d want anything from you. Not only that, you assumed because I flirted with you I liked you? Jeremy, people flirt with other people with no feelings attached all the time. I thought you were just flirting back. I didn’t think you liked me. If I knew that, I wouldn’t have said anything. I want to talk to you because you seem nice and everyone else here is a pretentious asshole, but apparently so are you,” Michael said calmly, the last sentence hitting Jeremy in the stomach.

“You called me a bundle of goods,” Jeremy whispered.

“And you called me a dick,” Michael retorted. Jeremy rubbed his eyes, trying to wrap his mind around what happened.

“So you never liked me,” Jeremy managed out. Michael sighed, his eyes searching Jeremy’s face. Jeremy let out no emotion.

“I don’t know Jeremy, I just wanted a friend,” Michael said, fidgeting with his glasses.

Jeremy paused. Was he really considering giving Michael this chance? Michael was a guy everyone was drooling over, Jeremy included. But Jeremy desperately craved any sort of connection to Michael, and if he had to push aside his feelings for that, so be it. Michael did seem like a good friend to have, even if he flirted with you and then said it meant nothing. And then told you to get over your nose being punched and how you should be grateful. Then again, Michael also just rejected him and insulted him for taking his flirting seriously. There was absolutely no way Jeremy would tolerate any of this.

Jeremy sighed, rubbing his eyes and once more looking up at Michael. Michael was really tall.

“Fine. I’ll be your friend. Only your friend,” Jeremy finally said. Michael’s face lit up for a split second before returning to his cool facade. That little spark was all Jeremy needed.

“I can’t wait for our adventures, Jeremy Heere,” Michael grinned.

Jeremy couldn’t believe he was doing this, but he also couldn’t suppress the excitement in his stomach. He really couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm hoping to write as much of this as i can because i love these characters and how they move but i'm also hella busy with the show we're doing and homework so we'll see how it goes. hope y'all enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy is Sad but there's auditions!!!!

By lunch, Jeremy had fully accepted the rejection and was letting the sting of it settle. Well, it was more of a burn but it had thankfully turned into a dull ache. He had hoped he would have all day to process the slight heartbreak, but Michael was so ecstatic to be Jeremy’s friend that he walked with Jeremy to the tree, and actually smiled the whole time. Jeremy was still hurt, but it felt better to see Michael smiling. As they walked, Jeremy noticed some people watching with confusion, disgust, and/or envy. Jeremy usually would be afraid to walk any further, the idea of melting into the ground seeming extremely alluring, but with Michael by his side he felt invincible.

He wanted to reach out and hold Michael’s hand, to show the world that  _ The  _ Michael Mell was his friend now and was going to be his friend for the rest of the year. He decided it wouldn’t be appropriate. So he wore the angry stares as badges, and began to walk closer to Michael, staring ahead and refusing to back down for the first time. He marched forward and didn’t bother to check if Michael was even following. As he walked, he was surprised that not even Rich dared to speak out, and it impressed Jeremy that Michael had that much power.

As he approached the tree, he saw that Christine was already there. He grinned and began to jog towards her, very excited to show off his new friend. It was almost like the ache of Michael rejecting him was gone.

Almost.

“Hey, Christine!” Jeremy grinned, plopping down onto the bench. Christine opened her mouth to respond, but fell silent when she saw Michael.

“Hi, I’m Michael,” he mumbled, his hands stuffed in his pockets. His feet scuffed the dirt in front of him.

“Yeah, I know who you are,” Christine said, narrowing her eyes.

“He will be joining us from now on,” Jeremy announced. He gave Christine a look, sending her a silent message to be nice.

“How lovely,” she deadpanned. Michael shifted uncomfortably.

Jeremy wanted to smack her arm but decided against it. He settled for glaring at her before turning to Michael and gesturing for him to sit on the bench.

“You know, standing isn’t always the best way to eat,” Jeremy said, offering a smile. Michael swallowed and reluctantly sat.

“I’m not really hungry, so I’ll just sit here,” Michael stuttered. Jeremy had to stop himself from laughing.

Why was Michael so nervous all of a sudden? He was so cocky and nonchalant before, what happened? Maybe it was because Christine was holding her capri sun like it was Michael’s head. Jeremy leaned forward and snatched the drink from her hands, taking a sip for himself.

“So,” Christine started. “How’re you liking our school so far?”

“I mean, it’s school. Not only that, it’s a private school with itchy clothes,” Michael chuckled. Christine seemed to loosen up a little more and Jeremy thanked her silently.

“Aren’t they the worse?” Christine said, leaning forward.

“They are. People here try and pull it off but no one looks good in these clothes. They’re made to make us look like groceries,” Michael snorted.

_ ‘You seem to pull them off quite well,’ _ Jeremy thought to himself.

He sat silently through the rest of lunch, letting Christine and Michael talk and just learn about each other. They cracked some jokes, talked about how hard the classes were and what shows the school was putting on. That snapped Jeremy backed into the conversation, and he sat up straight, beginning to listen intently.

“So, do you think you’ll audition for the musical? It’s Zombie Prom, which is a ridiculous musical but it’ll be so much fun! You’d be a perfect Jonny! Auditions are like, in two days,” Christine grinned.

Jeremy looked at Michael expectantly, surprised that Michael even sang.

“I mean, why not? What do I need to audition?” Michael smiled. Jeremy could’ve sworn that Christine started vibrating and glowing.

She then went into the huge speel about what Michael should bring, what songs would sound good with his voice, assuming he was in the range for Jonny, who was the lead. Jeremy suddenly got very giddy, hoping Christine would let him sit in for auditions. He leaned forward, watching as Michael explained how he didn’t really like to listen to musicals, and preferred to see them live. Christine agreed but also brought up the point that some shows would be impossible to see, so it was better to listen to the soundtrack. The two went back and forth on the matter, and Jeremy was content watching how Michael moved his hands when he spoke, how he pushed up his glasses, how he would brush his hair aside rather than run a hand through it.

Jeremy was so entranced he barely heard the bell ring. He jumped and immediately began to pack his things, throwing them into his backpack before turning to face the other two. Yet, right as he was about to apologize for rushing off, the two were already walking down the hill, talking about all the shows they hoped to see one day. Jeremy couldn’t make himself feel upset, he was just happy that his friends were getting along.

So he meandered on his way to his next class, dreaming up the adventures he and his new friends would go on. He thought of late night drives, the wind combing his hair, his hand holding Michael’s, Christine’s terrible 2000’s pop blasting through the car, and the three of them without a care in the world. As he arrived in his class he sat down and thought of going to see drive in movies and making stupid jokes and sharing food. Jeremy smiled as he leaned his cheek in his hand, watching out the window how the the sun filtered through the bare tree branches.

Then Jeremy remembered that Michael just rejected him, and he would never have that opportunity with him. Jeremy felt his face drop, turning away from the bright outside world to look ahead at the dull whiteboard and dronning teacher. He realized that dreaming about it would only hurt him more, so from now on he would only see Michael as friend.

A friend who was really attractive and could hold a room by just breathing, a friend who handed out flirtatious conversations like they were candies to anyone with a sweet tooth. A friend who was probably an amazing kisser and a good snuggle buddy and looked great under his cl-

Jeremy mentally slapped himself. He couldn’t be thinking these things. All of them were unattainable fantasies that he would never reach. He was lucky that Michael still wanted to be his friend. Michael was just a friend, a pal, a bro. A good old chummy chum buddy who toyed with his emotions and made him look like a idiot for even thinking that Michael meant something behind his sweet words.

How dare he. How dare Michael play with him like that and then expect for everything to be okay. Jeremy had genuine hope that Michael liked him back. That Michael was thinking about him like he was. He had aches when he saw Michael flirt with other boys, and felt jolts of confused lightning ignite in his veins when Michael flirted with him. Then Michael had the audacity to say it meant nothing? That is was all fun and games? No. Jeremy had every right to be furious. He was not going to let this slide, pretend that Michael hadn’t hurt him.

Sure, Michael had only joined the beginning of the semester, but Jeremy had liked him. Jeremy never liked anyone. Then Michael had waltzed in and screwed everything up. He had to throw Jeremy the smallest bone, and let him gnaw on it and build up a whole mountain of hope. Then he had to crush all of it with a simple, ‘it was just a prank, bro’.

Jeremy was left fuming for the rest of the period. In fact he fumed for the rest of the day. When he arrived to English, he felt the steam pouring from his ears. He sat down, restraining from throwing his backpack on the ground and sinking down. He crossed his arms, hoping that Michael would ditch this period, even though he’s never missed a class period before.

Of course, his hopes were dashed when Michael walked in and sat down next to Jeremy.

“Hey there, stranger,” Michael chuckled, leaning forward and looking over, trying to catch Jeremy’s eye.

Jeremy grunted in response, looking out to the windows. He was not going to respond to Michael.

“Whoa, I thought we were friends,” Michael said, scooting closer to Jeremy. 

Jeremy almost scooted farther away but decided against it. He instead settled for giving Michael the silent treatment. Michael was not at all phased by this, which only infuriated Jeremy more. Jeremy wanted to reach out and punch him, to show how angry he was and how hurt he was. He needed space. He didn’t want to be near Michael for a while, he needed time to heal so he wouldn’t explode on Michael.

Yet, as Jeremy sat and silently boiled in his chair, Michael didn’t notice a thing. He happily carried on with the lesson, whilst Jeremy angrily wrote down his notes. Jeremy did everything angrily. He wanted to go home and talk to his online friend and pretend like the world didn’t exist. Obviously, he knew that he was being overdramatic and angsty, but he didn’t really care. He was upset and angry for having his emotions played with.

When class ended, Jeremy threw his things into his bag and stormed out. He didn’t want to talk to Michael or Christine, or anyone really. So he stormed all the way to his car, and when he got in he immediately drove home. Christine was busy with theatre and would probably get a ride from one of the drama kids. As he drove, he blasted his angry playlist, which he never thought would come into use. He ended up screaming the lyrics as he thundered out the music and drove down the seemingly empty roads.

When he ended up on his street, he realized that he didn’t want to home just yet, he wanted to drive until the playlist was over and his throat was sore from abuse. He wanted to throw his emotions around until they were drained from him. So he did.

He drove until his breath was gone and the playlist began to repeat itself. He regretted nothing, happy he could soar down a highway and let out all his feelings. He was still a little sad, but felt better having drained himself. He may have shed a tear or two, but overall he was fine.

When he pulled into the driveway he saw that his dad wasn’t home yet, but since he was still coming down from his high it didn’t bother him. He turned off his car and rushed inside, quickly shedding his jacket at the door and running to his room. He couldn’t wait to hop online and contact Boyz. He didn’t necessarily want to play anything, he just wanted to talk. He needed to talk to someone about what was going on.

As he booted up his console, he checked to see if he had any notifications on his phone. Christine texted him saying when auditions were and that he was allowed to sit in on them, which he was very excited about. Then he saw that his dad had texted him saying he was going to be home late. Jeremy rolled his eyes in faux surprise.

He plopped onto his bed, quickly looking for discord as soon as the home screen came up. He opened up the chat between him and his new friend and typed out a flustered message. He realized halfway through that this would be easier with a keyboard or literally any other way of messaging. He figured he could somehow hook up his old keyboard to the console and type from there.

He had to search around and fiddle around with cords for a while but eventually he was able to get it working, but he had to sit on the floor with his neck craned back to look up at the TV which he did not appreciate. He finished out his message and sent it.

 

**Heereyeheereye:** Hey, can you talk? My day has been really shitty. I confronted the really hot guy at my school, cause he was flirting with me and all that jazz. So obviously I think I have a chance because he’s being so nice. Apparently not, because according to him everyone flirts with everyone. So then he rejects me and basically makes me feel like a moron for ever thinking I had a chance when he totally led me on! So I’m pissed off and annoyed. Well, not as mad as I was.

**b0yzRcut3:** dude that’s totally shitty. no one does that

**Heereyeheereye:** Exactly! Oh god, and he also just expects us to be friends now and that everything is going to be chummy chummy. But I’m seriously hurt! I don’t like people often, especially guys, and no one ever treats me nicely. I don't know if I'm just being overdramatic but it really does sting

**b0yzRcut3:** yeah no that’s awful. he should feel bad for leading you on like that. you seem like a rad dude, idk why he wouldn’t say yes

**Heereyeheereye:** You’re too kind. How about we just game?

**b0yzRcut3:** yeah dude i’m down

Jeremy smiles and quickly unhooks his keyboard and switches to his controller. He pulls up a quick platform multiplayer and relaxes into his bed.

He’s very happy to have someone who he can just talk to, not usually anything deep, and someone to game with. He still isn’t sure if he wants to play with a headset so they can talk out loud, but settling for just watching his character and sharing little bitty texts in between rounds isn’t the same thing. One day he’ll be able to talk to this friend and share jokes and not have weird half conversations all the time.

Unfortunately, his dad did eventually came home and Jeremy had to power off and quickly pretend to be doing homework. He then realized that his efforts were fruitless since his dad didn’t even come upstairs, not even to say a quick ‘hello’. Instead Jeremy heard him turn on the TV and start making some freezer food. Jeremy felt some heat build in his face, but it wasn’t worth it to take it out. He was tired, upset, heartbroken, and behind on some homework. Suddenly his phone buzzed beside him.

**Michael Mell:** Hey Jeremy, what are you doing this weekend?

Speak of the devil. 

Jeremy chewed his lip and glared at his screen, debating whether or not he should answer. He was still a little bitter, but not as upset. Should he say nothing? Should he lie and say he had plans? What was the proper etiquette for speaking to someone who hurt you?

He spent the rest of the night angrily writing down math answers and scientific explanations. He really didn’t want to do his lab write up, but if he fell back now he would never recover. He just needed to finish math and science and then he could sleep and the world would slip away.  He just needed to finish his homework.

He just needed to finish.

He just needed to.

He just needed.

He just needed to.

He just needed to sleep.

Jeremy slowly pressed his cheek against his textbook, his eyes slowly closing. He would just take a short nap. A quick thirty minutes. None would be the wiser. It would be lovely.

Just a quick nap.

 

___

 

Jeremy jolted awake to the sound of banging on his door. He felt drool on his face, and his cheek felt really weird. He rubbed his eyes and looked around.

“Jeremy! I’m heading out for the morning, I don’t know when I’ll be back tonight. Just making sure you’re awake!” Jeremy’s dad yelled before thumping down the stairs.

Jeremy groaned and placed his forehead back on the textbook, only to jump back up when he felt the giant wet spot. He rubbed his eyes again and looked down to see a gross drool stain that covered a quarter of his textbook He stood up abruptly and spun around, looking for a clock. He managed to grab his phone and saw that he had indeed slept through the whole night. And he forgot to plug his phone in, so it was at ten percent. He plugged it in quickly and started to panic.

He dashed to his bathroom, deciding it was too late for a shower. He hastily brushed his hair into a somewhat decent shape and went back to his room to throw on his uniform. If he was late his teacher would lose her mind and that’s not what he needed. So he rushed downstairs after getting dressed, stuffed a breakfast bar in his mouth before running back upstairs to throw everything in his bag.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” He yelled as he jogged down the stairs, almost tripping on the last one.

He stuffed his feet into his shoes before running out to his car and speeding towards school, nevermind that he left his math homework on his desk.

 

___

 

When Jeremy arrived at school, he realized that he should not, in fact, have sped through traffic since he was slightly early. There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and a few kids wandering around on the fields and eating breakfast under the trees. He turned off his car and lay back in his seat, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. He had combed his hair, put on deodorant, put on all his clothes, had both of his shoes, and his backpack. He unhooked his phone from his car and saw he was at a decent fifty percent. He was gonna be fine.

After a brief moment of relaxation, he threw himself back out into the world where he slung his bag over his shoulder and waltzed up to the front of the school. Since Christine wouldn’t be here until the bell actually rang, he could sort his locker out. He hadn’t cleaned it since the beginning of the year. So he happily opened his locker and began sorting through the chaos inside. He pulled out papers and let them fall into a pile on the floor, humming softly to himself as he organized his binders and books by colors to create a rainbow. Once he finished, he shut his locker with pride and bent down to pick up the trash. But just as his hands grazed the edges of the pile, he watched as all of them were kicked far out of reach.

When he stood he was faced, well, more or less faced with Rich. He sighed and tried to walk past this bully to retrieve the scattered trash but was pushed back rather forcefully.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Rich spat. Jeremy frowned.

“I like to think I’m Jeremy,” he retorted. He regretted that statement when Rich slammed his fist into Jeremy’s locker.

“Don’t play smart with me. Why the hell is Michael Mell hanging out with a loser like you?” Rich growled.

Jeremy suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Was Rich really this upset over the fact that Jeremy finally had a new friend? What should he say? Sorry I’m a more likeable person than you, and I can make friends without beating the shit out of people?

“I don’t know,” Jeremy said, settling for that. Rich rolled his eyes.

“You better watch your ass. Mell wouldn’t want to be around you for long anyway,” he snorted. Jeremy suddenly felt his heart jump but he hid it and pushed forward to collect the loose papers.

Thankfully Rich left and Jeremy was left to throw everything away with bad thoughts spinning through his head at 180mph. What if Michael did leave him? What if he didn’t want to be friends after a few weeks of being around Jeremy?

No. Rich’s words would not break Jeremy like this. Michael was eager to be his friend and that was that. There was to be no doubt in the Heere’s headspace. He told himself this over and over as he walked back to his locker when suddenly he remembered. He had left his math homework on his desk, and there was no way he would be able to get it back so soon. His dad was already at work, and Christine couldn’t drive. He had worked so hard to get half of it done and now he couldn’t even get partial credit.

He groaned and leaned against his locker, watching people slowly arrive and mingle around the lockers. He probably should find a place to charge his phone, or a place to just sit down and chill out. He was still really tired from having to force himself to wake up and move around, so he kind of wanted to find a place to sleep. He could go back to his car, but there was only ten minutes before the bell rang which would give him maybe a minute to nap.

Hopefully today would be a pretty easy and he could just pass out in his desks between lectures. Maybe Christine brought her blanket since it was a little chilly and he could sleep under the big tree. He could put on some music and forget his stress and maybe get some other homework done. Yeah, he would be totally fine. His mind began to slow down as he walked into his math office, even though math usually stressed him out.

Yet, just as he thought that he rammed his hip into his desk, barely missing his crotch, causing him to fall onto the desk and silently scream. He really didn’t want to be here, he wanted to go home and sleep. He wanted to cry and scream and yell and throw things.

But since he couldn’t do that, he sat the hell down and rested his forehead on his desk and prayed to the sky that he wouldn’t have to stress too much about things. Maybe they would learn easy things today, no labs or in class essays, or literally anything Jeremy couldn’t handle in this mindset. Maybe Michael was sick, and wouldn’t come today. 

Suddenly, unfortunately, Jeremy was very aware of Michael sitting down next to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything besides closing his eyes and letting the world fade into darkness.

He was very abruptly woken up by someone pinching his arm, he was in fact so startled that he slammed his knee against the desk and shot up straight. The commotion drew a few eyes towards him, but thankfully no one else said anything. Jeremy quickly looked at his arm before looking up to see who had done it. Of course, it was Michael.

“Dude, what the hell?” Jeremy whispered, as angrily as he could.

“You were asleep, and I didn’t want you to get in trouble,” Michael shrugged.

“So you pinched me and made me hurt my knee?” Jeremy spit. He then began to notice how much his knee actually hurt.

“Listen, I let you sleep for about twenty minutes and then woke you up so you didn’t get in trouble,” Michael frowned.

“Oh, you let me sleep? Sorry, do I need to advise you next time so I don’t get in trouble?” Jeremy hissed.

“Hey, if you slept any longer the teacher would start suspecting something and I doubt you want to deal with that right now. But sure, if you think you can stop yourself from getting in trouble, be my guest,” Michael whispered, giving a sneer at the end.

Jeremy glared at Michael before pulling out a book to pretend like he was studying and not taking a nap. He made sure to lay it down on the table so the teacher couldn’t see what he was reading. He then waited for the period to end, which ended up feeling like an eternity. Once the period ended he rushed out of the classroom as well as he could, since as soon as he stood he felt like he was going to collapse.

In fact, he felt like he was going to pass out every time he stood and sat down, and he was very ready to go home. He was so exhausted that when lunch came around, he just laid down underneath the tree and fell asleep. He didn’t feel Christine laying a blanket over him, or Michael sitting down next to him and starting his homework, or Christine laying down with her head on Jeremy’s side. Yet even if Jeremy couldn’t feel them, or even knew what was going on, he relaxed and had a good rest where he felt comfortable.

When the bell finally rang, he was gently awoken by Christine rubbing his arm. He slowly blinked before rubbing his eyes since the light hurt his eyes, and he slowly sat up. He looked around, his hair full of grass as well as his sweater. He was happily greeted by Christine and Michael smiling at him.

“Hey, Jeremy, you don’t seem to be feeling well, do you wanna just go home?” Christine asked, reaching out to pat his hand.

“I can get your homework and notes from classes,” Michael said. Jeremy looked down and blinked before sighing, his head spinning.

“I really hate to miss class,” Jeremy mumbled.

“And I hate to see you passing out on your desk every period,” Christine frowned.

“Yeah, I’m with Christine,” Michael said. Jeremy yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Jeremy asked, letting his arms drop to the ground.

“Yes, go home,” Michael chuckled, smiling at Jeremy.

Jeremy looked at both of their faces to see if there was any uncertainty or annoyance, but he could find any. So with one final sigh, he shrugged on his backpack and headed to his car. He felt a bit woozy, but he was sure he’d be fine. It wasn’t like he hadn’t eaten in over 24 hours or- oh God he hadn’t eaten in over a day and his twig teenage body was not ready to handle it.

He then began to stumble quickly to his car, hopping in and planning on going home and eating a hearty snack before taking a well deserved nap. Unfortunately, if he continued to drive he would fall asleep on the wheel. So he decided to whip out his hype up playlist to keep him awake and focused. As soon as he pulled out of the parking spot, he turned the volume up enough where it wouldn’t hurt his ears but would still wake him up, and skidded on home.

Miraculously he was able to make it home without falling asleep and without getting into a crash. Jeremy was quite proud of himself and decided he would eat a cup of ice cream, a microwave chicken pot pie, a cup of tea, some leftovers, and whatever else he could get his hands on.

He warily walked up his driveway, still feeling a bit out of it, unlocked the door, and immediately fell onto the couch after taking off his shoes and falling right asleep.

 

_____

 

The day passed pretty uneventfully. Michael didn’t really talk during classes, instead looking over what seemed to be sheet music. Jeremy was content to focus on his studies rather than his unrequited attraction, so he didn’t really interact with Michael. Although, during lunch, Michael and Christine would not stop talking. At some point Jeremy zoned out, but it was something about the auditions coming up soon and how worried Michael was. Jeremy was excited to hear him sing, but honestly he had to keep his grades up and he still hadn’t finished his lab report and the wind really wasn’t helping with the reading of his results.

He finished writing the last sentence as soon as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. Michael and Christine were still rambling, so he simply packed up his stuff and started to leave when suddenly a hand grabbed his wrist. He spun around, yanking his wrist away when he saw Michael and Christine staring at him.

“Yes?”

“You’re coming to auditions right?” Christine asked. Jeremy cocked his head but nodded anyway.

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jeremy smiled.

He didn’t even glance at Michael before heading to his next class, thankful he was able to get his lab report done.

As he walked he started to wonder about this new friendship. How would it progress? Would they ignore the weird energy between them? Or would it built up as a one sided irritation that would lead to the two of them fighting constantly and tearing each other apart? Would Christine have to choose sides? What if she chose Michael over Jeremy?

No. Christine had been Jeremy’s friend for forever. That wouldn’t change over some guy Jeremy was having issues with. Not only that, the relationship wouldn’t become toxic and they would be able to be great friends. They would have crazy stories that they would laugh about later in life, and stupid pictures to prove it. Michael could introduce them to a wild side of life and Jeremy and Christine could introduce him to a simple but thrilling life of theare.

In Jeremy’s head it all sounded great, but in actuality he probably sounded like a moron with too big of aspirations. They only had a year and a half ‘til graduation, there was no way they’d be able to do all this. Well, Jeremy still had a year and a half, and he would happily soak up as many memories to make up for all the shitty ones he has from the past. He’s gonna make this friendship and year count.

 

_____

 

Auditions. Jeremy was really excited to hear everyone sing, to see who got casted, but he was mostly excited to hear Michael ever since he had caught Michael singing in an empty classroom yesterday. Now, Jeremy had been dying to hear him again. He wished he had caught more of Michael singing, but he was honestly just happy he got to hear him at all.

So sitting in the auditorium, next to Christine, the director, the music director, and the choreographer, he felt his leg bounce so hard he hit the table repeatedly. Christine had to put her hand on his leg to stop him from doing it anymore. Jeremy was just impatient. Why was it taking five years for everyone to show up? Why wasn’t the director calling people up? He was getting nervous for the people auditioning.

When Christine had first told him about this show, he laughed. It was ridiculous! A musical about a guy getting dumped, killing himself by jumping into a nuclear reactor, and then coming back as a zombie? And trying to get back with the girl who dumped him even though half the school hates him? He couldn’t imagine why Mr. Reyes decided this would be a great idea for their school to do this show. Then he listened to the soundtrack.

He was sold.

It was a mix of Grease and High School Musical, and he was stoked. He couldn’t wait to hear Jonny sing the high notes, and Ms. Strict do a tango with her ex-lover. He was so so so excited to see what the final product would look like. He really hoped they could pull it off. As stage manager, a lot of seeing things go well on the technical side fell on him. And he was worried that he would fall behind, or lose track of people. He wanted to do this show justice, even if no one knew this show or what it was about. Luckily they had good support from the school when it came to shows, they usually would sell out opening and closing night.

He was so deep in thought he barely noticed Christine hitting him on the arm. He jolted up and turned around to see Mr. Reyes talking to those auditioning, and when he caught sight of Michael he almost choked. He looked how he usually did, but he dressed slightly like a greaser. A white t-shirt tucked into jeans with a belt, and his hair pushed back. Jeremy wanted to eat his own foot, Michael looked gorgeous. So when Mr. Reyes called Michael up first, Jeremy started to bite his finger.

As soon as Michael was on stage, Jeremy had to look down at his papers because good God his pants were getting really tight and his face was red hot. Christine could not know of this or he would jump into an active volcano.

Jeremy heard the pianist play a starting note, and Michael hummed softly to it. Jeremy forced himself to watch Michael’s audition because he owed it to himself. He watched and Michael fidgeted for a second, before nodding to the pianist. She started to play the intro, and Michael seamlessly started singing and Jeremy even heard the choreographer gasp. Michael sang the first line, still looking nervous, but when he caught Jeremy’s eye, he began to smile and then he sang with no shame. He didn’t miss a single note, his voice never cracking, and Jeremy almost melted into the floor. In fact he started sliding down his seat before Christine pinched his arm.

When Michael finished, Jeremy could almost hear the applause that would happen opening night. He turned around and saw all the auditioners waving their hands frantically since they weren’t allowed to clap. Jeremy and Christine quickly joined them as Michael walked off stage and back to his seat. When he passed Jeremy and Christine, he flashed a quick smile that left Jeremy with butterflies. Jeremy was a little upset that Michael still had this effect, but he was certain that Michael would get Jonny and he would do a fantastic job. He almost wanted to just get the cast list out as soon as auditions were over so they could start rehearsal right away.

Unfortunately that wouldn’t happen, since everyone would have to think very hard as to who got what, how many ensemble members they wanted, and so forth. Not only that, there were auditions tomorrow and the day after that. Jeremy didn’t expect there to be that many people each day, but the attendance for this audition session was around twenty kids. The most they’ve had for a show in a while.

Nevertheless, Jeremy was still very excited and couldn’t wait to see where this would go. He used his excitement to sit through the rest of the auditions, and to not get up and run to tell Michael all the great things he did. He just couldn’t wait for the day to end and to proclaim his pride to his friends and to tell boyz what all happened today. Even if it hurt that he couldn’t be the Toffee to Jonny like he wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god i am so sorry this has taken so long but i have just been all over the place. i'm hoping i'll be able to crank out more chapters once school gets closer to summer and whatnot so i hope y'all enjoyed this!
> 
> find me on tumblr @lunchisbanging or twitter @iunchlsbanging

**Author's Note:**

> okay so...i know it was rough. i'm working on it. i'll probably edit this all later. i don't want this to be too long, but also just long enough if that makes sense. anyways, idk if i'll only stay on jerm's POV cause i love playing as michael and he's gonna be super fun to play with in this story.
> 
> so lemme know what you think! comments are always appreciated, but kudos are also awesome :)


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